Working the Cloud

Kate Russell

Published by

Crimson Publishing

ISBN

9781780591308

RRP

£14.99

Reviewed by

A P Sutcliffe, PG Dip, MBCS

Score

8 out of 10

Kate Russell is a well-known technology writer and a regular contributor to the BBC ‘Click’ programme where she highlights websites and applications that she finds of particular interest. This book is a written version of some the material that she has presented.

The book sets out to provide some guidance for small businesses on how they might make use of the internet and how to get the best out of the different social media products as part of their commercial strategy. It highlights key issues where there might be potential problems and provides relevant warnings for the unwary.

It also offers handy tips on making the most of the various products. This is interspersed with snippets of advice on creating efficient working practices and making use of the internet to enhance business functions that would be of value to almost any type of operation.

The book is written in a conversational style that reflects the author’s personality; cheerful, bright and bubbly. If you know her work, you can almost hear her talking as you read the text.

The book is well laid out and structured in a way that makes it very easy to pick out key topics of particular interest. It’s loaded with a great deal of information about specific websites, highlighting ways in which these could be used, along with details of online material for additional reading.

The key value of the book is that it’s informative without being too heavy on the technical side. It does a good job of explaining some important aspects in a way that will be of value for the primary target audience.

Most of the topics are quite short in length, but this will make it easier for the less technically minded to digest and understand the material. It’s a useful little volume that focuses more on the use, rather than the creation, of the applications.

Easy to read, the book achieves what it sets out to do, though there are areas where it could benefit from a little more technical information to validate some of the assertions. Although it is aimed at the smaller business, there are items that might be as useful for the larger enterprises; and it would probably be of benefit to many of these in helping to create an appropriate strategy for getting the best out of social media.

This is a slim little paperback that is worth reading, aimed more at the marketing personnel rather than the technical staff.